


Smiley

by justdreadwolfing



Series: Solas x Nira'sal [3]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:35:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27531610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justdreadwolfing/pseuds/justdreadwolfing
Summary: Finally catching her breath, Nira decides whether she should stay with the Inquisition or not.  Varric comes to give her some encouragement.
Series: Solas x Nira'sal [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/434131
Kudos: 1





	Smiley

_Worthless. Do you really think you can do any good here?  
_

_Little elf._

Nira shook her head, the words the fear demon whispered to her the previous night still fresh on her mind. She pulled her legs close to her chest as she looked over the frozen lake. Leaning her head against her knees she closed her eyes, forcing the words from her mind. The keeper had warned her of demons but never had she thought she would experience something like this firsthand. Nira had passed every test the keeper had thrown at her. She had always felt pretty strong when it came to dealing with difficult events that came her way. 

Almost… 

Fear was not something she could handle. 

The fear of failing. The fear of winding up alone. The fear of those around her held her down. She was an insignificant elf who had never left her keeper’s side and had never truly experienced this world. If she could not hold her own, what would she do? Where would she go? 

The fear demon knew all these things. At first, they were subtle whispers, but now as she dreamed, the demon would come to her. He would taunt her. Lie to her. Anything he had to do to get inside her mind. 

And it worked. 

The demon was right. None of them really needed her here. She would only get in the way. 

“Smiley, what the heck are you doing way out here?” A gruff voice sounded from behind her. While she was still getting used to everyone’s voices, his was especially difficult to place. Though, she found the nickname he had chosen help give him away completely. 

“Varric, _on dhea_. I mean…good morning.” Blood rushed to her cheeks, her eyes shooting towards him only to nervously dart away from him. “Sorry.” She had become so used to being around others that knew the elvhen language, that suddenly being surrounded by practically no one made omitting those words incredibly difficult. 

Varric chuckled as he sat down beside her. “It’s alright. I’m sort of used to the whole elven thing.” He paused for a moment before turning to her. “Now that we have a chance to talk, I guess I may as well ask the question on everyone’s minds right now. Are you…holding up alright? You go from being the most wanted criminal in Thedas to joining the armies of the faithful. Most people would have tried to spread that out a little.” 

Raising her head, her eyes filled with worry as she looked over to Varric. “I suppose. I just wish I had been a little more prepared for all this. I mean, I know that no one could ever be prepared for what we’ve had to face, but I just thought that…” She sighed heavily, her eyes glancing out over the small town. “When I left my clan, this is definitely not what I had expected.” 

He laughed. “I bet not.” 

“I’m still just not sure any of this is really happening.” Nira closed her eyes. While they hadn’t completely been the most hospitable people she could have met, the shemlen were definitely trying. They had apologized over and over and offered all kinds of extravagant gifts as a tribute to the Herald of Andraste. “I feel like I’ll wake up soon and I’ll be back home with my clan.” 

If only that were true… 

While she didn’t know much about them, her new friends had definitely made things a little easier. 

Nira was shy and it was difficult for her to make friends, but she was getting there. While Cassandra was a bit brutish and honestly scared her quite a bit, Nira could see how hard she was trying. It was endearing. She had never worked with one of the shemlen so closely before, she had only hoped that this experience would grant her some sort of a learning curve. Varric was…entertaining. She had never met a dwarf before, let alone one that was so charming. Solas seemed more helpful than the rest. The elf was unlike any other elf she had ever met. That fact worried her but, despite her concerns, he had somehow completely entranced her all at the same time. She couldn’t help but want to know more about him. 

She had to. 

“Mm…well, take my advice: you might want to consider running at the first opportunity. I’ve written enough tragedies to recognize where this is going. We’re going to need a miracle for the Breach and I just don’t…I don’t want a nice girl like you getting hurt.” Varric pushed himself back up to his feet with a grunt. “You should be getting to Chuckles soon, Smiley. You know he doesn’t like it when you’re late.” 

“I guess I should.” Smiley. He had used the name once or twice before and she had yet to have a chance to ask him about it. Maybe now was her chance. “Oh hey, Varric? I was curious…why ‘Smiley’? You have a nickname for everyone and they all seem to have some strange hidden meaning. I was just curious why you chose that one for me.” 

“You seem like you carry a lot more on your shoulders than you let on. I felt that you could use the reminder.” The dwarf turned and smiled, giving her a smooth wink before sauntering off. 

A small smile slid across her face as she pushed herself to her feet. Nira took a deep breath. The people here were good and were doing their very best to help those around them. Nira wanted to help…she may not be very useful in any other sense, but if nothing else with the last of her time here, she wanted to do her part. 

She was no Herald of Andraste, but she would do what she could to save these people.


End file.
